U.S. House Mental Health Parity Bill Differs from
Senate Bill

March 8, 2007 (PLANSPONSOR.com) - The mental health
care benefits parity legislation introduced in the U.S. House
on Wednesday would require group health plans to treat
cost-sharing requirements for mental health the same as for
other medical conditions, but strays from the U.S. Senate
version passed last month.

According to Business Insurance, the House proposal
is similar to the one passed by the Senate Health,
Education, Labor and Pensions Committee in February (See
Senate Committee Approves Mental Health
Parity Bill
) in that it exempts small employers and those companies
whose costs would rise more than 2% during the first plan
year as a result of the requirement.

The two differences between the House and Senate version
of the bill are:

The House version hands more power to the
states to set stronger standards governing cost sharing
and treatment parity for mental health care services,
rather than preempting state control of the issue like
the Senate bill calls for.

The House bill requires the employer to provide
coverage for the same range of mental disorders and
illnesses which are covered by federal health care
plans available to members of Congress, where the
Senate bill gives employers discretion over what
disorders to cover.

The House measure was introduced by Representatives
Patrick Kennedy, (D-Rhode Island), and Jim Ramstad,
(R-Minnesota). The chief sponsors of the Senate bill have
warned that their backing depends on no significant changes
being made to the legislation, according to Business
Insurance.